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Downton purists will want to stop reading now, because rampant spoilers for the show's fourth season are coming up. The British press was abuzz late last week when preview screeners of Downton Abbey's newest episode were not sent out in advance — previously these were held back to stop the respective deaths of Lady Sybil and Matthew Crawley leaking. (Even though everyone knew Matthew was going to die anyway because we knew Dan Stevens was being a diva and quitting the show.)

The prevailing speculation was either that someone else died, or that opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa's cameo as Nellie Melba would prove too good/bad for reviewers to hold back. As it happens, it was neither. Instead, a new, villainous member of Downton's cast brought the controversy with him upon his arrival during the episode: the character, a valet in the service of a noble visiting Downton, raped Mary Crawley's lady's maid Anna Bates. The scene was described as "harrowing" and "morally reprehensible" — even with a warning displayed before the episode's airing, over 200 complaints have been made to the channel broadcasting Downton, with many viewers upset that such heavy-hitting content featured in their otherwise light and soapy Sunday night entertainment.

The show's writer Julian Fellowes has vigorously defended the scene in interviews this week. Speaking with the BBC, he refuted arguments that it sensationalized the show and said the episode's director "showed restraint." Future episodes of the show will, he says, "[explore] the emotions and the effect these things have on people… the mental damage and the emotional damage."

Both the actors involved in the rape scene have also voiced their support. Joanne Froggatt, who plays Anna, said she's "proud of the scene" and the "brave storyline" that's to follow. She credited Fellowes in particular for his perspective: 'Julian, and this is a credit to him, was adamant that we wouldn't depict that kind of violence against a woman on the screen… That's an incredible thing in this industry in this day and age." (That said, the scene as aired did feature an upsetting level of physical violence.)

Photo Credit: Carnival Film and Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE